Lohner Restoration

[BrianT]

Hi guys, I have made a couple of posts on the site but I am now trying to establish a blog on my project. I hail from Perth, Western Australia.

I have acquired a WC51 Lohner Radio Van somewhat in need of attention.
I have virtually all of the components including all sheet metal and an engine (which was replaced in its service life.)

200 of these vehicles were commissioned by the Austrian Army(OBH) in the late 50's. The conversions became known as Lohner Dodges and were undertaken by Lohner Werke, a Vienna based coach and tram builder, on WC51's and 52's already operational with the OBH. Each of these vehicles had previously been through the extensive rebuild program established by the US in post war Germany and Italy to re-equip the armies of Western Europe.

The conversion consisted of building a radio cab over the cargo bed (the outline of which can be seen from the welds of the new cab), enclosing the driver's cab and an extensive rewiring to 12V and grounding/shielding to support the radio function.

This is a photo of a restored Lohner in Austria.

From my investigations it seems that a batch of at least 3 Lohners were imported into Australia around 1980 ( the last Lohner was surplused by Austria in 1979). 2 of the vehicles, a 51 and a 52, were operated by a prospector in the Coober Pedy opal fields in South Australia, the 52 providing the winch power for the prospector's mine workings. These were subsequently sold to a mineral company in Perth, Western Australia. The 52 was restored to WW2 US configuration and is on display, the 51 is the one I acquired. One vehicle was operated by a geologist in Queensland and arrived on the military restorers' circuit early and has been restored.

I meet with a group of guys with the same interests, one day a week, to work on military restorations. We are just in the process of completeing a Champ.
The Lohner is the next substantive project. One of our members has restored a WC so there is some good local input. I have also been very fortunate in being put in touch with a Lohner owner in Austria, Hans, who has been incredibly helpful in providing information and detailed photos of his restord Lohner.

I am currently in the proces of stripping the chassis before derusting and painting. Photo below is the current state of play

I hope to record our progress in updates to this blog. I know I will be seeking your combined knowledge and wisdom over the course of the project.

Cheers

[Kaegi]

hey it looks like they paved the roads out there in Western Oz!

cant wait to see this one come back to life.

[danlen]

Congratulations--that is an excellent project. Rare, and worthy.
Do you plan to sandblast the truck, rebuild the mechanicals, etc? It looks as if it could use a fair bit of work.
Daniel

[BrianT]

Kaegi - re paving the roads - we found this amazing product - bitumen!

Daniel - I am planning to strip the vehicle with chemicals and mechanical wire brush. The cost of sandblasting in WA at present is too high with all our mineral development projects. Also plan a total mechanical rebuild. It will take some time (money and effort too)!

Cheers

[Vista52]

Hi Brian,

I see you have at least one early seat which looks like it's still in good condition. That's the same style as I have in my 1943.

[BrianT]

Hi Vista. Apparantly those units of the OBH that were to receive the Lohner radio vans had to provide their best vehicles for the conversion. These would have included the full range of Dodge production dates for the 51's and 52's. I don't think Lohner were too particular on what components were returned to which vehicle on assembly. In addition to the early style seats (they are both in good condition by the way) my vehicle has one of the old style push-pull light switches not found on production 1945 WC's.

Cheers

[BrianT]

This week we continued the stripping of the chassis. Given that we won't be sandblasting, we are keeping the axles/wheels on to move the chassis indoors when the messy bits are over. Once stripped the chassis has proved to be in good codition with no deep rust or deformation. Stripped the rear diff out, the oil ran clear and the diff looks in good codition but there are the remains of a sheered off pin in the housing. The cause will become apparant once we strip down the diff.







An interesting fearture on the Lohner is the extensive earthing system which has been employed. There is a heavy duty brass earthing strip which runs from the engine bay down the underside of the right chassis rail to the battery box from where it enters the radio cabin and encircles the cabin as a cage. Virtually all electrical fittings are connected to it.


Next week the dust and grime begins!

Cheers

[BrianT]

Well the day was spent removing a few kilos of good Aussie dirt. The undersides were particularly fun. I purposely did not take a photo of the wire brush operator - not a good look. Rust proofed the first clean section of the rails.



During the week primed the font end sheet metal and pickle potting the bits and pieces removed from the chassis last week.

We had a bit of a diversion today with a Landrover in need of a new undercarriage.

More wire brushing and rust proofing next week.

Cheers

[Kaegi]

better get th edodge done quick! you will need it to go rescue the LR.

[BrianT]

Nothing much to report this week. Completed wire brush cleaning of chassis and applied rust converter. Hopefully next week after a bit of sanding we can prime the cleaned surfaces. Once we get the chassis into the workshop ( there is a bit of a traffic jam - an Austin Champ and a 1917 Model T in WW1 Desert cofiguration) will remove the axles and complete the clean and paint of the chassis.





Austrian Flag on front bumper.


Cheers

[danlen]

Nice work, Brian. I'm doing a '52 and you're beating me by a mile. Same truck underneath, tho.
The Aussies don't mess about, I guess.
Hope it goes well from here on out.
Daniel

[12th Air Force]

What a great job!

Cool to see that this very rare Dodge will be saved (it's even here in Europe a rare conversion).

Do you have any plans how to use the radio body in the future?

It is hard to find pictures on what they looked like inside during the time at the Austrian Army (Bundesheer).

Actually is a Lohner Dodge for sale in Germany. In the Auction you can see a picture of the radio body with the remaining seats and tables. Have a look here:
http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/do ... res=EXPORT

The detail-picture can directly be found here: http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY0WDEwMjQ=/$(KGrHqZHJE8FD(DWeKhQBQ89vdRVg!~~48_27.JPG

Good luck with your project, Joakim

PS: Nice Land Rover that you have on the yard!

[BrianT]

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

Daniel, I won't be doing it all on my own, this group of desperadoes have and will be assisting. Please note the other Austrian import housed in our workshop.



Joakim, I plan to restore the radio cab to its original configuration but have it useable as a camper. Thanks for sharing the photo. I am getting some great assistance on Lohner detail from my mate Hans in Austria.

Cheers

[GoranWC51]

One thing that really puzzles me is the build date for this WC51, as compared to mine:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/10293301@N02/9107009914/

And here's my build card:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10293301@N02/9107016712/

The Lohner WC51 has frame number 81751872 and was built January 12 1945.

My WC51 has frame number 81741448 and was built FEBRUARY 12 1945 (!)

- My WC51 should, if sequential frame numbers were used during production, have been produced before the "Lohner" WC51, as the frame number is 10424 units later than mine.....

Can anyone solve this mystery for me? It seems that my Dodge may have been built around November/December 1944, and not February 12 1945.

Goran N

[Vista52]

Goran, although your frame number is earlier, the body and engine number are around 5800 to 5900 later.